Game-based bullying-prevention program helps schools

An electronic, game-based curriculum that focuses on reducing student bullying and improving school climate is showing positive results in Wisconsin schools, according to the results of new research released Wednesday.

The curriculum, Act Now!, reached about 15,000 middle-school students in the 2010-'11 school year and more than 16,000 students in 2011-'12. Of the 76 schools that participated statewide last year, seven were in Milwaukee, according to the Department of Public Instruction.

To honor Bullying Awareness Day Wednesday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers was scheduled to speak at Audubon Technology and Communication Center Middle School about the results of research on the Act Now! program from the 2010-'11 school year.

That research focused on six participating schools, and showed that overall, schools where staff trained in the program alongside their students had a greater effect on lowering students' reported incidences of being bullied or bullying others than the schools where students took the course but staff received no training.

The Act Now! program was launched in 2010 by Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, which has been working with Milwaukee Public Schools and the DPI on the initiative. Last year the program reached students in grades four through eight.

According to Children's Hospital, the ongoing comprehensive research study results of the Act Now! program, funded by the Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation, will be released once they are published in an forthcoming research journal article.

About Erin Richards

Erin Richards covers K-12 education in urban and suburban Milwaukee, as well as state politics related to education issues.